Letter from the Dean

Haas Unveils Strategic Plan

Exciting news! The Haas School launched its
new strategic plan on Feb. 1, after it received
overwhelming support from our faculty.
The plan centers on the school's mission
of developing leaders who redefine how we
do business, as well as the distinctive Haas
culture that supports this mission. Let me give
you a brief overview.

The culture component of the plan takes a
stand, for the first time in our history, on a set
of defining principles that distinguish us from
other schools. Haas is a singular place, with
a singular culture; explicit principles will help
us to communicate our narrative in a coordinated,
powerful way.

These principles include excellence and
inclusion, also the core of all of UC Berkeley’s
culture. We put special emphasis on four
defining principles that reflect the strengths of
Haas culture in ways that also differentiate our
school. They are:

Question the status quo

Confidence without attitude

Students always

Beyond yourself

As alumni, you will no doubt see our school
reflected in these principles because they
have always been our school's "heartbeat." But we never explicitly articulated them until
now. I believe that building an awareness
of who we are enables us to more readily
achieve our goals and attract top-notch faculty,
students, and staff who resonate with our
unique culture.

The leadership component of our strategic
plan is our answer to a fundamental, competitive
question: Given that all top business
schools produce leaders, what type of leader
does Haas develop? Our explicit goal going
forward is to produce innovative leaders— men and women who drive growth by putting
new ideas to work in every corner and in every
function of our organizations. And they need
to do so responsibly. In our best judgment, this
is the archetype leader that society needs now
and will need the most in the future.

We live in a world where value in the marketplace
is increasingly driven by ideas that
are not yet widely known nor fully poven.
Whether it's producing more fuel-efficient cars
or dreaming up new business processes, innovative
leaders are the ones who will be able to
deliver into our idea economy. It is new ideas,
put to work effectively, that are the root source
of business advantage and success.

Haas has always produced graduates who
leaned toward the innovative leader archetype.
With key changes to our core curriculum
and with new extracurricular programs— starting this fall in our MBA programs — we
can provide all of our students with a distinct
toolkit of skills and the experiential learning
to become an innovative leader. The defining
principles of our Haas culture reinforce these
lessons, ensuring that our graduates are well
prepared for the future.

Over the last 18 months, many alumni,
students, staff, and faculty participated in the
development of our strategic plan. One message
came through incredibly strongly: Let’s
set the highest possible aspiration, but let’s
go about it our way. We've done our best to
remain true to ourselves and to what makes
Haas so special.

I close with a request. In many ways,
writing this plan was the easy part. Now it's
time for implementation. We consider you a
partner as we execute on the plan. Let's hold
each other to being "all-in,"
as our great institution deserves.